Whitening Teeth Naturally

Whitening teeth naturally is easy, but like all whitening methods they can be hard on your teeth if done too often. Everyone’s teeth naturally darken with age, but things like smoking and drinking coffee can cause yellow stains. Like most dental office and home whitening procedures, natural tooth whitening works best on specific kinds of surface stains. If your teeth are stained from antibiotics like tetracycline, or you have a tooth that has darkened after a root canal, you’ll need to see your dentist for some specialized whitening procedures.

Before you start whitening teeth naturally, it’s a good idea to pay a visit to your dentist and ask to see a Vitapan Classic Shade Guide. This is simply a picture of teeth that are both naturally colored and bleached. The dentist can show you how white your teeth are already, and how white you can reasonably expect to get them without resorting to serious bleaching. Most people are surprised to learn that their teeth are actually quite naturally white, or close to it. Remember that those blinding white smiles you see in magazines are not natural at all, and were achieved through the use of harsh chemicals that can cause sensitivity and other weird effects. Power-bleaching can even be painful.

You can succeed in whitening teeth naturally if your teeth have yellowish stains from smoking or drinking coffee, tea, or red wine. Other yellow-teeth culprits include carrots, sweet potatoes, cola, and even chocolate. Fortunately, newer stains are easier to avoid and natural whitening can be done on a fairly regular basis as long as you don’t go overboard.

You’ll be either oxidizing the stains off your teeth, or scraping them off. Hydrogen peroxide is the great oxidizer, and it is often considered a natural substance by many green folks. The truth is, peroxide can be quite powerful, and high concentrations are used for pretty much all tooth-bleaching procedures out there. You can buy 3% peroxide at the drug store, and some people try to whiten their teeth by using this as a mouthwash. Just swishing it around in your mouth probably won’t have any effect; most commercial tooth-whiteners have a much higher concentration of peroxide in gel form that can sit on your teeth for a while.

Some people solve the liquid peroxide problem by mixing it with baking soda to make a paste. This paste is then applied to the teeth and allowed to sit for a few minutes before rinsing. Baking soda is another favorite for whitening teeth naturally. The tiny abrasive particles in baking soda act as abrasive that scrape the stains off your teeth.

Remember that natural does not mean safe or harmless. Use baking soda sparingly, you scrape off a little enamel each time you use it. Avoid whitening teeth naturally through the use of lemon juice or other fruit acids, these also compromise your enamel and make your teeth more susceptible to cavities and general wear and tear. Everyone’s teeth start out perfect and darken gradually with age, but you can avoid unsightly stains using natural whitening tricks.